A coup has been announced on national television by soldiers in the nation of Niger in West Africa.
Since early on Wednesday, soldiers from the presidential guard have been keeping Niger President Mohamed Bazoum in custody in the presidential palace in the country’s capital Niamey. In a live address on national TV, soldiers announced that they had ousted Niger’s democratically elected leader and ended the government due to the country’s worsening state of security.
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The decision to “put an end to the regime that you know due to the deteriorating security situation and bad governance” was announced in a statement read aloud by Colonel Amadou Abdramane and nine other commanders on national television. The soldiers, who were reportedly the presidential guard, claimed they had halted all institutions, destroyed the constitution, and sealed the country’s borders.
They also said that they are imposing a curfew on the whole country of Niger until the situation has been stabilised and urged the foreign powers not to interfere. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanded the release of President Mohamed Bazoum following the televised broadcast. “What it clearly constitutes,” he said at a news conference in New Zealand, “is an attempt to seize power by force and to disrupt the constitution.”
According to Colonel Abdramane, the soldiers were acting under The National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP). ECOWAS is among the institutions that have condemned the coup by Niger’s army. Through a statement on their social media accounts, the bloc stated;
The ECOWAS Commission condemns the attempted coup in Niger
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Crowds marched through the streets of Niamey, the nation’s capital, earlier on Wednesday in favor of Mr. Bazoum. Since gaining independence from France in 1960, Niger has experienced four coups as well as countless coup attempts.
